Top Australian sustainability award winners announced

It is award season here in Australia, and two awards have cast a spotlight on sustainability and the businesses, communities and individuals who are leading the way forward in this age of environmental awareness. The awards show the immense diversity of sustainability initiatives taking place in the country.

With the winners announced just last month, The Green Globe Awards showcase people and projects making real progress toward sustainability across the state of NSW.

Planet Ark’s David Rowlinson, manager of the Make It Wood campaign, was on the independent judging panel.

The 2017 winner across all of the categories went to Stone & Wood Brewing Company. The company aims to have more than half of their handcrafted beer sold within a three-hour drive of the brewery while also giving priority to local, independent pubs and bottle shops.

‘At Stone & Wood we are committed to taking care of the earth that we walk on,’ said James Perrin, the company’s sustainability manager. ‘After all, this is the only planet with beer.’

The Banksia Sustainability Awards are regarded as the most prestigious and longest running sustainability awards in Australia. The awards honour Australian individuals, communities, businesses and government for their innovation, achievement and commitment to sustainability.

Some of the Banksia Award categories include Food for Sustainable Thought, Indigenous Leadership for Sustainability, Communication for Change and Sustainable Cities.

Planet Ark’s Make it Australian Recycled and Planet Ark Paper campaign was a finalist in the Leadership in the Circular Economy Award category.

This category looks for businesses who are creative disrupters, who demonstrate how they have contributed to resource conservation and/or waste reduction in their own or another’s supply chain, and who show strong engagement and promotion of the circular economy to stakeholders.

Make It Australian Recycled aims to show the importance of closing the paper recycling loop by ‘buying it back’. This is also the concept explained and promoted in this year’s National Recycling Week campaign, asking Australians how we as consumers can contribute to the circular economy, and listing what products are made from recycled materials. The Make It Australian Recycled campaign also seeks to increase the use of locally made paper and to encourage support for the country’s recycling industry.

The major catalyst for Planet Ark’s partnership with Australian Paper was its new de-inking facility which has the ability to greatly increase the production of recycled paper and has the capacity to divert 80,000 tonnes of waste paper from landfill or overseas export each year.

Sam Carey, Planet Ark’s Paper Programs Manager, says being a finalist was ‘a huge privilege. Planet Ark is not a product-making company. We’re an environmental organisation focused on behaviour change, so the fact that we have been recognised among all these other great products and services is so encouraging for us, and places us on an exciting new trajectory.’

The Banksia Environment Minister’s Award for a Cleaner Environment went to Kalleske – Sustainable Pioneers in Organic Wine in South Australia’s iconic wine producing region, the Barossa Valley.

The awards reflect the growing focus on rewarding sustainability initiatives across sectors. They are a positive example of the huge number of organisations making environmentally friendly choices an integral part of their business plan and overall objectives.

Positive Actions

You can find the full list of this year’s finalists and winners here and here. Show your support for these organisations by purchasing their products and spreading the word

Investigate the environmental credentials of your favourite brands. A good place to start is Planet Ark’s Recycled Products Guide

Purchase 100% recycled Australian paper for home and office. Find out more here

Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.

Author: Laura Chalk
Laura joined Planet Ark in 2016. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience having travelled the world and a background in teaching English as a second language among other things.